Nice color. I'd put wainscoting or board and batten in there to give it some visual interest. I did board and batten in the entry foyer in our old house and it was a very easy DIY weekend project.

Pipdog: where did you get those hooks? We just finished the b&b in our foyer and I would like some hooks, but everything I've looks huge. I like the size and shape of the ones you have.

Those look like hooks from Lowes that I have in satin nickel finish. In the aisle with the knobs and pulls. About $4.

This post was edited by juliekcmo on Sun, Dec 8, 13 at 8:43

Really like Pipdog's solution!

Thanks! The hooks are from Lowe's -- I spray painted them oil rubbed bronze.

Wainscoting is fine if it fits with the style of the house. Generally you see wainscoting above hardwood, not ceramic tile.

Otherwise, give yourself a chance to get used to it. A pretty chandelier and some pictures on the walls, maybe a bench or small table with a light opposite the coat closet.

You mentioned that the flooring is ordered. Are you replacing the tile?

I think once you have new floor, baseboard, maybe a new light fixture and small area rug (?), and some wall art, it will look great.

This is the flooring that is going in there

I like the B&B wainscoting, but I'm not sure if it would work with the rest of the house. I like that light fixture, pipdog. Do you remember where you got it?

One bedroom and laundry has this wainscoting, and the bathrooms have it in stained beadboard and lower height.

And this is the part of the living room which most people see when they step in the front door.

What do you think? B&B or beadboard?

This is similar to the foyer ceiling:
{{!gwi}}

I need a low profile chandelier, one that says "petite chandelier" instead of "this ceiling is too low for a real chandelier" and I like this one best so far for the light between the front door and living room:

and this or something low profile might work for the light in front of the family room door since a recessed light won't work:

Previously I had only this hall tree in there, on the wall facing the family room:

I've also got the plant stand that you can see in the corner, and pretty little table that I can't quite get to to photograph (or to dust, as you can see). It's about sofa table height.

I could also use one of these:

(one like this because I can't get to mine)

btw, how do you do the design board collages?

This post was edited by marti8a on Sun, Dec 8, 13 at 15:29

I think with your new floor it will look great as is. Love the lights but probably wouldn't use both chrome and the dark lantern type fixture.
If you want bling, this one is 11 inches high and 116.00 at Overstock

No I wouldn't use two different metals in there. I just came across that flat light and thought it would work. I imagine I could find the same thing in a bronze.

What do y'all think about wainscoting?

I don't think the wainscoting is necessary. Some people like it, others don't.

The light fixture in our foyer is from HD Buttercup. I've seen it online though -- you can google pineapple pendant and probably find it online.

The room needs crown molding and a more formal style door to be a formal entry into the home.

You don't have to do anything too elaborate for the crown. Stock profiles and some creativity can really dress it up.

And have you thought about moving the entry to the family room forward so that the foyer is a more traditional rectangle shape? You could do a wide entry, with the interior as panels.

This is a bit over the top, but you could do something simple, and it would square up the shape of the foyer.

livewireoak, I took down the crown because the hvac people ruined part of it. I just need to fix their hole and put it back up.

Funny you should mention moving the family room door. The doorway wall that is there now is a support wall and needs to stay, AND the hvac people put a return duct right in front of it and said that was the only place it could go, so that can't be blocked, but I have thought of putting two narrow bookcases in front of the door opening to give the illusion of a wide door opening.

Until recently, we had French doors there. I took them down when I painted and dh wants them back up. They drove me nuts and I want them down. I won. But he thinks whoever buys our house will want them back up. I doubt it, but it privacy if we had overnight guests who slept in that room.

marti8a, very pretty. I think wainscoting in an almost square foyer would make it look more like a square. Just my two cents. (I know it's not exactly square, but whichever room you're viewing it from only one square part is visible, iykwim). I think you need something that elongates it visually, like a long narrow console perhaps.